The present invention relates to aromatic compounds such as xcex1-methylstyrene grafted on a halogenated polymer backbone, preferably poly(vinyl chloride), wherein the graft copolymer has a single glass transition temperature. A method for preparing the graft copolymer is also disclosed. The poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(xcex1-methylstyrene) importantly can be utilized as a compatibilizing agent or as a high heat distortion poly(vinyl chloride) material, and the single glass transition temperature is considerably higher than that of homopolymer poly(vinyl chloride).
Various monomers and polymers have been grafted onto halogenated polymer backbones, such as poly(vinyl chloride). The resulting grafted halogen copolymers reportedly exhibit widely varying properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,708 to Kennedy relates to an aluminum trialkyl and aluminum dialkyl monohalide catalysts which can be used to graft cationically polymerizable monomers, such as styrene, chloroprene, isobutylene, etc. to halogenated polymers with some highly reactive halogen atoms such as polyvinyl chloride),neoprene, chlorobutyl, etc.
Trivedi, Ambrose, and Altenau in The Journal of Macromolecular Science-Chemistry, A17(7), pp.1159-1168 (1982) article entitled xe2x80x9cSynthesis and Characterization of Poly(vinyl Chloride-g-xcex1-Methylstyrene)-A New Thermoplastic Resin. 2xe2x80x9d state that xcex1-methylstyrene was grafted on poly(vinyl chloride) using Et2AlCl, Et3Al, and Me3Al coinitiators and CH2Cl2 as solvent or suspending agent. Grafting was reportedly shown to be feasible using both solution and suspension techniques. High grafting efficiency and low monomer conversion were reportedly obtained using Et3Al and Me3Al, while low grafting efficiency but high conversion could be obtained using Et2AlCl coinitiator. This paper discusses the synthesis, characterization and some mechanical properties of xcex1-methylstyrene grafted poly(vinyl chloride) and reported that two glass transition temperatures (Tg) were obtained. This suggests that the moieties of the graft copolymer are incompatible with each other.
The grafting of aromatic compounds, preferably vinyl substituted aromatics such as poly(xcex1-methylstyrene), onto halogenated backbones such as poly(vinyl chloride) is described. Unexpectedly, the graft polymer has a single glass transition temperature. The single glass transition temperature of the polyvinyl chloride)-g-poly((xcex1-methylstyrene) is considerably higher than ungrafted homopolymer poly(vinyl chloride) thus can be utilized as a high heat distortion polymer. The poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(xcex1-methylstyrene) can further be utilized as a compatibilizing agent for blends of poly(vinyl chloride) and poly(xcex1-methylstyrene) as well as for other polymers made from vinyl substituted aromatic monomers.